I was recommended “People We Meet on Vacation,” a movie adaptation from Emily Henry’s romance novel, by a friend who told me it was good. For the first 20 minutes, that seemed true. Thank you friend, I appreciate you, but I didn’t end up loving it. Please don’t hate me. I hope we can still be friends.
The movie goes as follows: Poppy is a spontaneous girl and Alex is a conventional boy, who become best friends and take annual summer trips around the world. They keep this up for nine summers. The zenith of the story occurs when after a decade of pinning, the girl and boy kiss. But then, everything goes asunder.
I have nothing wrong to say about the settings and quirky characters of the movie. However, I do have some things to say about the tension and conflict in this film. These stubborn gargoyles ended up ruining the viewing experience for me.
Tension. It seems simple, but it can easily get butchered. If one isn’t careful with developing tension, they’ll end up with a piece of work that has no stake in its story and no incentive for viewers to keep viewing. What’s wrong with “People We Meet on Vacation” wasn’t the use of tension, but it’s lack of it.
Poppy and Alex like each other, but they don’t share their feelings until 10 years later. Why? I’m not sure, but it seems the logic of the production was “why not?”
The whole film hinges on the two keeping their feelings locked and “staying friends.” But what was at stake? If they got together, they’d be a straight, conventionally attractive couple. Wow! Radical, I know.
You could say the reason they didn’t confess to each other was because they had different partners throughout their friendship, but I’d argue that they didn’t even like their partners. Alex breaks up with his girlfriend more times than Michael Phelps has won gold medals, and each year Poppy is never seen with the same man twice. Why stay with people they didn’t like, when they had each other? This question and more were always whirring in my head while watching, but never got answered.
Why didn’t Poppy and Alex share their feelings for one another? Why wait a decade? A quick Google search suggests that their inability to confess was from a mix of insecurity, fear and desire to preserve their friendship. I can understand coming from a place of fear, but Poppy is supposed to be the one that takes big risks, and Alex is in love with her. So, what’s the holdup? It seems like the movie itself didn’t know what was holding these characters’ back. So instead of stepping up to their mistake, they decided to confuse the audience even more.
Though these gargoyles weren’t my best friends in this movie, I’m not saying it’s not good. If there was a black pit in the movie from its lack of tension and misuse of conflict, then the humor filled it. All the characters had realistic and silly dialogue that made me giggle and kept me entertained.
If you’re looking for an intellectually stimulating, cinematic and expressive masterpiece, walk the other way. If you’re looking for a fun, silly, “dont-take-this-seriously” movie, come on in, there’s plenty of room!
